By Staff
This past weekend I bought two new books, both about butterflies, "The Family Butterfly Book" by Rick Mikula and "The Life Cycles of Butterflies" by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards.
Children now don't know anything about nature.
They need to discover its joys and wonders.
There are so many mysteries to explore and solve.
They need to know more and have respect for the flying, crawling creatures that share this planet with us.
My grandson Ethan and I are both learning about butterflies.
Who doesn't appreciate the enchanting beauty of a butterfly?
And they're so beneficial, too, pollinating flowers whenever they land.
As the seasons come and go, we hope to be able to identify a few on and around a host or nectar plant – whether it be a single or cluster of eggs, a few munching fuzzy caterpillars (larval stage), a solitary chrysalis (which means gold in Greek).
We anticipate watching and identifying a few butterflies which might be hanging about.
We have our fingers crossed in anticipation.
Below are a few things we are learning about butterflies:
Monarch caterpillars don't have to hide. They warn everyone with their bold bands of yellow, white and black. Beware, I feed on milkweed, which makes me bitter-tasting and poisonous to birds, lizards and mammals. But predators like wasps and spiders are immune to these toxins.
Butterflies smell and touch with their antennae and taste with their feet.
Some butterflies can fly in short bursts of 30 mph. Others can achieve a burst of 45 to 50 mph. Amazing!
Butterflies can't fly if the temperature is below 60 degrees. Their body fluid (hemolymph) becomes too thick and restricts their flight muscles from working properly.
They have excellent compound vision, see ultraviolet light and in many directions at once.
Once a butterfly's wing is torn or damaged, it cannot regenerate or grow a new one and cannot repair itself.
The powder on a butterfly's wing is composed of thousands of dust-sized, loosely-attached scales which shed throughout a butterfly's life (lost or rubbed off powder on a butterfly's wing will not keep it from flying).
The modified hairs or scales, which resemble shingles on a roof, have a number of functions – retain body heat and streamline airflow for easier flight. Shedding scales easily helps them in escaping from sticky spider webs, locating a mate and camouflage.
Their favorite color is purple, followed by yellow, then white, blue and, lastly, red. Try to incorporate all these colors into your flower garden.
Nectar plants provide life-sustaining food.
Host plants provide places for the female to deposit her eggs, plus, later food for the caterpillars to eat.
If you have stacked firewood, examine each log, as the stacked wood provides a very comfortable home for overwintering adult butterflies and their chrysalises.
To pass the winter, the perfect places are fallen logs, woodpiles or loose bark. Some spend this time as eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises or in adult stages.
A study from Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, has shown that people who engaged in gardening for only a half-hour a day, five days a week, live about a year and a half longer.
Gardening provides children with exercise, builds self-esteem and teaches lifelong skills.
"I just want to play and dig in the dirt."